Above 1200 Sq/FT Harley Jim's place

[drivesitfar]

I hear you on the spring or yearly cleaning up and getting rid of stuff taking up valuable space so best of luck with that.

just curious what you used in the ends of your new sledge handles to hold them in nice and tight? is that small pieces of aluminum pipe? I usually used wood or steel wedges, but willing to hear and learn why you used these round items.

happy new year and looks like you are off to a great start!!

 

[shopnut]

Cleaning is good for the mind and soul!!

Happy New Year Jim. It looks like the year is off to a good start over there!

 

[harley jim]

Drives, that is Redneck engineering at its finest, I drilled out the remnants of the old handle and that was what the po had used, it is the swedge collar that keeps the rear axle shaft in an 18 wheeler, it is a tapered steel piece. I ground and fit the handle and put the wood wedge in then finished it with that ring.
Funny that you mentioned that.

I went to the world of wheels today and the tool vendor there had these wedges so I bought a couple for stock.

Sonny is a friend of mine and the bil, he has operated the world of wheels since 1962.
We always crash the setup on Friday to get the up close look at the cars, we quit entering cars around 2018 when we dissolved the car club. The last year we did it we entered 30ish cars, it took 48 hours to set up.

The entire trailer is air brushed, you can see the tool vender to the left.


We think this will be the overall winner.

I could see me in this one.

A buddy of mine, he thinks like me. Don is the guy that sold me the pedal car I'm doing the gasser thing to. This truck is his daily driver, the bil passed him the other day in Knoxville!

More local boys.

Terry's cuda, his wife Patsy has a pt cruiser with a hellcat motor!
Jack's blue Duster, him and Pat hold the record for most wins at the twist dance contest, no I dont dance!

 

[harley jim]

Pat's dream car, she dosnt like this paint tho! Probably white for her.

I've seen one of those, just cant place it.

Oh yea, someday

These are getting popular and expensive.

So now I'm back home cleaning the shop, I put me and uncle Willie a pot of coffee on.


That pile at the door has to go to the other building and then I'm ready to start on the trucks.

Shopnut, you are so right.

 

[xtremek]

A white Willys? Isn't that a sin? I like the delivery truck and the Rolls. The shop is looking better, good job.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

Make that coffee strong.

 

[xtremek]

Would you hurry up with Pat's white Chevy 4x4? I need your cab dolly sometime early this spring.

 

[bugnut]

Cleanup is looking good! Look at all that floor space!!

 

[Bears Fan]

Nice! the garage is looking a lot more organized, love all the toys you got hanging around in the garage, can't wait to see you working on one of those.

I'm with you too on listing a bunch of stuff that needs to go

 

[cbacres]

I was able to get all of the new floor joists in place, got the drains and vents installed, and roughed in all of the water lines.
I pressurized the water system at about 7:00 tonight, if it holds tomorrow I'll put the floor in.

The po, p.o.s. used 2x4 floor joists, who dose that, I know the guy, he will get a piece of my mind the next time I see him.

This was the most difficult space to work in.
If it were mine there would not be a bathroom in this space.

Jim, I see your alignment marks on your drain pipes. I’ve long done this, really works to get the right angle to the dangle!

Happy New Year.

 

[don long]

Your shop still looks pretty full Jim
I've been thinking of going balls out after my shop and storage room but want to finish up the few small projects first cause I'm sure I'll be pulling down new ones when I start the spring cleaning.

Garage cleaning beats the hell out of mechanic work. Good luck on your trucks

 

[harley jim]

Kirk, she would paint everything white. Your next in line for the cab dollie.

Uncle Willie, it's always strong.

Bugnut, Thanks it should have been done a long time ago.

Tony, I have a couple of house projects to get done then its play time.

Craig, You know, how many times has someone glued it up backwards! You cant go back.

Don, That part of the shop had become a drop zone, it was just collecting everything. I have been putting things where they should be.

I put the Jeep in the shop to warm up.

While it was warming up I did some more organizing,

These grommets, trim washers, and snaps got put in a drawer, they were in several places.

The tools to install these would not fit the drawer so I found another drawer and will paint it before switching it over.
Then I ran out of propane/heat so I went to the house.

 

[Strouty]

Looking really good, you are picking up my slack, dang snow removal gets me every time. The trailer idea is a good one, I think I should do the same.

 

[harley jim]

Yep, the snow rules the show, when I was in Chicago I worked for the city where I lived, I was on the plow list and the main brake list, you couldn't make plans to do nothing after October just plow and fix water mains.
I put three items in my trailer today.


It ain't big but it beats tripping over **** in the shop.

 

[xtremek]

The shop looks fantastic.

 

[Kevkx125]

Shop looking good Jim!! Hope the jeep repair goes easy for you Jim.

 

[harley jim]

Thanks guys, it feels good to be that far into it, I want to keep going on the other half when I get some trucks finished.
Rain day all day today. I stayed in my recliner most of the day, had to go pick up the Granddaughter in Sweetwater so I met her at rural king, they have the best licorice. Pat's truck needs an oil change so I was going to get the stuff but they were out of oil and filters

 

[harley jim]

I have been a little distracted lately, imagine that! Finally got the Jeep up on blocks and ready to measure, Donnie is on his way over to help. There is a 3/4" difference in the wheel base from right to left sides. I had it put on a frame machine and the frame is square so I will start checking springs and mounts first.

 

[Chrisb62]

I have been a little distracted lately, imagine that! Finally got the Jeep up on blocks and ready to measure, Donnie is on his way over to help. There is a 3/4" difference in the wheel base from right to left sides. I had it put on a frame machine and the frame is square so I will start checking springs and mounts first.

Which side was wearing out a tire....maybe two ?

 

[xtremek]

Starting from the side that has the correct wheel base?

 

[harley jim]

The problem is, at about 40 mph it felt like it was following ruts in the road, when you top a hill and start down it got really bad, almost uncontrollable. That is originally why I was able to buy it, the po was scared of it.
I tore the front end down and all of the joints were frozen, I replaced everything in the front end including the steering box and all brake components. It helped a lot but only got me to around 50 mph. At this point I took it to a body shop and they put it on a frame machine and checked everything. There report was that the frame was square but the passenger side wheelbase was ¾" shorter than the drivers side. We did some measuring at home and found it to be ¾" shorter on the right side also. After measuring everything underneath there is no one single ¾" difference but several small ⅛" to ¼" variations.
I'm kind of stumped but I'm thinking if I pull all of the rear hangers and replace hardware and start from scratch that I can work through it.
I am always open to suggestions, there are folks out there that do this way more than me so I am definitely all ears at this point.


I have the springs out and did a rough measure on them and no noticable differences.

My back is about done with me for today but I will start measuring underneath again tomorrow.

 

[xtremek]

It sounds like a solid game plan to me.

 

[Chrisb62]

This way be of no help, but I would check frame rail ends to spring hanger locations in back, then rail ends to front of springs. Then continue measuring from rail ends to the next points , so and so on.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Some of my buddies think I’ve got stuff. Wait till I tell them about this guy in Tennessee.
Great projects, I’ve always been impressed with guys that can glue metal together.
Don’t know if you remember or not but I still have a car hauler looking for low mileage Pontiacs.

 

[InsaneEd]

There report was that the frame was square but the passenger side wheelbase was ¾" shorter than the drivers side. We did some measuring at home and found it to be ¾" shorter on the right side also. After measuring everything underneath there is no one single ¾" difference but several small ⅛" to ¼" variations.
I'm kind of stumped but I'm thinking if I pull all of the rear hangers and replace hardware and start from scratch that I can work through it.
I am always open to suggestions, there are folks out there that do this way more than me so I am definitely all ears at this point.

I have the springs out and did a rough measure on them and no noticable differences.

My back is about done with me for today but I will start measuring underneath again tomorrow.

So is that an 86? It looks like a dana 44 in the rear.

Just looking at it the rusty spots on the leaf springs where the axle sits don't apprear the same. If someone swapped in tha rear end they might have welded the leaf spring perches on the axle wrong.

I would make sure the holes for the leaf spring pins are the same distance from the front of the axle tube.

 

[mybigwarwagon]

You need a heavier occupant on the high side.

 

[harley jim]

Kirk, yep hold my beer.

@Chrisb62 we did a little of that today but didnt find anything obvious, I am going to do it in depth tomorrow, I'll start at the front and map it all of the way out the back.

@Miss the Pontiacs yep, theres some junk here lots of it. I was the shop boss for a fabrication company here before I retired so I still do what I love, just dont get paid for it now. And yes I do remember the offer, I will be getting it out to finish some work on it soon, Pat wants to drive it past her brothers house to crank his chain a bit, I'll explain that when I get started on it. Thanks for joining in.

@InsaneEd Its a 1973/ 304 V8, the axles are Dana44s as far as I know the rear axle is stock and the front axle is an 83, that was done to obtain disc brakes up front. That being said I cant take anything as the truth as I'm not the guy that changed it. The rear axle will come out so The pads can be checked, I have seen pads with multiple holes in them, although we measured while it was bolted up I want to see the holes. Lots of measuring to come for sure. I do appreciate your input, keep an eye on me.

Uncle Willie, Its a short side and a long side, not a fat chick thing! I'm gonna get into so much trouble for that.

That is true and verified.

The Beautiful Lady that owns it. I'll dig up a pic of her old Jeep, she was a pro race driver back in the day.

304 V8 was stock for this one.

Found it, this is what is left of Pat's old race Jeep, 76 w/304 she ran this one in stock class. Its was bone stock, wink wink.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

I don’t remember the straight Custom it might I have never been offered in Canada. When I researched it and found it was basically a 1 year run, I didn’t feel so bad. It as kind of a toss up as a Tempest/Ventura.
I do remember theCanadian Beaumont, StratoChief, Laurentian, Parisienne and possibly a few 2+2s.

Nice Jeep.

 

[harley jim]

Your correct on the one year only, it was basically a tempest. In typical Pontiac fashion it did have it's own taillights and grill inserts. This one is 1 of 355 almost a unicorn, its a 350/ three on the tree with a bench seat. It has 14000 miles on it and is espresso brown. It took first place in its class at the world of wheels in 2000 when the restoration work had been completed, then it was vandalized and then it got hidden away in a shed for 20 years. After I get a couple of trucks back on the road I'm going to get it out and do a few things to it and get some better pics.

 

[harley jim]

So everyone knows what we are talking about.
1969 Pontiac Custom S

 

[harley jim]

No pic yet, I found out that the rear axle pads on the Jeep are off to the right side by ¼" this is what I believe is causing the ¾" difference in the diagonal measurement. Frame is straight the axle is offset to the left.

 

[InsaneEd]

No pic yet, I found out that the rear axle pads on the Jeep are off to the right side by ¼" this is what I believe is causing the ¾" difference in the diagonal measurement. Frame is straight the axle is offset to the left.

Well, that isn't the easiest thing to fix, but it could have been much harder. Glad you found the problem.

 

[harley jim]

I'm going to take the rear axle out tomorrow and set it up on the welding bench. I'm going to check the pinion angle before I take it out just to make sure

 

[xtremek]

Since you have it this far apart, are you planning on checking everything else out? Is there anything else to check?

 

[harley jim]

Sorry Kirk, I had some thinking to do.
I wasnt happy with the way things were going so I took a step back and questioned what I had been told, which was that the frame was square.

I didnt have a good way to measure around obstacles, like the skid plate so I made a measuring stick.

It's very basic, and it allowed me to measure by myself so I could think.

I also made a caliper to help, this allowed an accurate way to measure from the spring perch to the outer axle flange. Originally I thought there was a ¼" variation in the perches but they are spot on.
I measured the frame again and it is definitely diamond shaped. There is a ¾" difference from LF to RR and RF to LR.
Today I reassembled everything with new hardware where I could, I installed the new Rancho shocks, everything is new or almost new including u-joints, spring bushings, springs, everything.
I have searched out another frame shop and I went to talk to him tonight and scope out his shop, He seems like a knowledgeable guy, he definitely owns a nice old school frame shop that he has operated for 25 years. We made a tentative appointment for Monday, I need to call him Saturday and make sure he got the 2017 GMC finished and off of the frame machine. Best part of all, I get to help him do the work and take it home with me the same day. Not that I'm excited to help do the work but I get to see the tape move.

 

[harley jim]

I tacked two pieces of 10 ga. together and drew out my design.

Drilled.
used a guide plate and drilled some more.

Then I used a die grinder and a ¼" burr to smooth the slot.

They will work as inside or outside calipers.

 

[Grizz1963]

Morning Jim,

I forgot to say I love the car show pics, especially the Rolls Royce.

 

[Arne73]

I've been bitten by other peoples troubleshooting. Glad that you were able to take a breath, step back and gather data for yourself. Good luck with your project!

 

[xtremek]

Not worries on the response, that post was definitely worth the wait. Love the calipers and the measuring stick.

 

[Strouty]

Looks like the arc of shame, only on purpose...